3 ms·
Not a native speaker. Just to clarify: shedding the virus means being infectious? Or just their body is still doing cleanup but not necessarily that the virus i
by lucb1e 5y ago
Not a native speaker. Just to clarify: shedding the virus means being infectious? Or just their body is still doing cleanup but not necessarily that the virus is still intact and contagious/infectious? (The dictionary entry for shedding doesn't feel specific enough to draw conclusions from.)
- tragictrash 5y agoYes shedding like a dogs coat, but bits of virus. This is the main pathway of transmission. The pieces that are being shed are active and infectious.
- jdavis703 5y agoThe sibling comment answered this. But pro-tip, use an industry dictionary to define jargon. In this case a medical dictionary might help. For reference here’s what the Merriam Webster Medical Dictionary says: To discharge usually gradually from the body (e.g. exposed persons may shed virus from the oropharynx)
- lucb1e 5y agoThanks for the tip! I didn't know of that dictionary. In this case that's still ambiguous though as it doesn't indicate whether this discharged material is infectious or not, but perhaps then the word is simply ambiguous. (The sibling comment answered that, though: "It doesn't necessarily mean they are shedding active virions. Sometimes there are just leftover fragments")